Ambition of Uzumaki Naruto
by RESTIA
Summary: When he became Hokage, he would be respected. He would be acknowledged. That was what he thought. However, the day he realized the disparity of the world, his ambition evolved. Laughed and called the fool, Uzumaki Naruto set out on a quest that spits in the faces of Gods in sheer audacity: to unite the five military superpowers into a single empire... through any means necessary.


Disclaimer: Naruto does not belong to me. It belongs to Masashi Kishimoto :D

* * *

"_My dream? You dare to presume my dream to be something.. so_ _small?_" _- Uzumaki Naruto_

**Ambition of Uzumaki Naruto**

Shinobi. The main military power in a war-torn world, they can be hired to complete any missions in return for a fee. Such missions vary drastically, and are thus ranked depending on importance and danger from D to A, in an ascending alphabetical order, before being completely transcended by S. These missions can be something as simple as plowing a field to something as dangerous as espionage in hostile territory or assassination of a crime lord.

Shinobi are soldiers who possess the power to breathe fire, summons gushes of water, and call forth tempests of wind. Crafting hallucinatory illusions with a mere gesture of the hand, and moving at speeds beyond what the normal eye can capture in vision. In another world, they could be called _mages_. What exactly allows them to perform such supernatural feats? For humanity itself should not have the capacity to perform such feats by themselves, right?

The answer would be an energy coined as "chakra". Essential to even the most basic of any shinobi techniques, or "jutsus", it is best defined as the combination of physical energy created in the cells of an organism and the mental energy gained through mental discipline and experience. It is the energy that allows humanity power to create effects that are not possible otherwise. Without chakra, a shinobi can be said to be nothing more than a simple civilian. Of course, that notion is not completely true.

But power corrupts, does it not? Who exactly taught primitive humans to utilize such a dangerous power? Who would entrust humanity with such a deadly weapon? Was it a gift from the divine? Scholars have theorized for ages to find out the origin of chakra, but not even the most learned and educated could exactly pinpoint when or how chakra exactly started. To know exactly the true origin of chakra, one have to go back in time around four hundred years ago.

In an age of endless war, a demonic beast of titanic proportions once scourged and ravaged the land. The first and primordial demon, it was the epitome of slaughter. A roar from it could scar the earth, forming an abyssal trench. A single stroke of its tail could summon a typhoon that left nothing but destruction in its wake. It had enough strength to pull continents and join them together. Indeed, its existence could be called a signal to the beginning of the end. This beast was the prime evil. A manifestation of hatred, a creation of destruction, and a lord of terror. It was known primarily as the **Juubi**.

Despair. It was the most prevalent emotion amongst mankind during the age. They were powerless against the strongest being the in the world. "Why," they cried to the heavens. Pleas to the divine went unanswered. Even resolve to sell their souls were ignored. They were alone in the fight, against the colossus creature.

"_I am the one who will establish peace and order._"

Hope. It was the radiant emotion that rose when a priest with supernatural powers came forth. Known as the **Rikudou Sennin**, he eventually confronted the deadly beast, their battle carved into the annuls of history. The flare of chakra could be felt even from across the continent. Storms of fire fell from the skies and crimson lightning flashed in the battlefield. Chakra clashed... in a battle to decide the outcome of the world, be it destruction or prosperity.

After a battle of epic proportions that lasted for ten arduous days and nights, the priest managed to barely defeat the beast and seal it within its body. He was heralded as a hero.. as the **Saviour of this World**. Continuing on to use his wisdom and power to bring the world to peace, he spread his ideals and religion amongst the people, teaching them how to utilize chakra, forming the Shinobi Sect, the primordial form of what is now ninjutsu.

The **Rikudou Sennin** hoped to bring peace to the world via the Shinobi system, but it only contributed to the seeds of war that were sown in the deepest nature of mankind.

For absolute power corrupts absolutely.

* * *

_October 10th, 0412 ARS(after Rikudou Sennin)_

He could distantly hear the cheers as the villagers celebrated the significant occasion. It was the day a demon attacked the village and reaped thousands of lives, before falling in battle to the valor of the village leader. It was also his birthday. A day that was supposed to be the happiest, was instead the day that brought him the most pain.

_He was going to die_.

He realized it as a fact. He acknowledged it. He could feel it, the sharp edges of the rusty copper stakes that stabbed into his flesh, penetrating through his skin.. piercing through his soul, and pinning it against a cross. It was an ancient and particularly painful way of condemning a sinner to death.

_But he was no sinner_.

He was merely a child. With unkempt dirty blonde hair that seemed to spike all over the place and defy gravity, with eyes a shade of azure blue that resembled the oceans and the skies, he was famous, or rather _infamous_ if you will, in the village he lived in. A pariah that only knew solitude.

Why, you ask? Why was he condemned like a demon? He was human, was he not? No matter what petty crimes he had committed, how could it possibly justify the execution of a young child?

For he was not a normal human child. The day he was born, a large and ferocious demon attacked Konoha, the village he was born in. The beast was known as the Ninetailed Fox, **Kyuubi no Kitsune**. Left with no other choice, the leader of the village at that time, the Yondaime Hokage Namikaze Minato, sealed the demon into his own child... Condemning him to the life of a **Jinchuuriki**. The same child that is currently cruxcified on the cross.

"A person is smart. People are dumb." That saying is never as apt to the current situation of the jailer of the Kyuubi. He was the sole force preventing the Kyuubi from unleashing its rage once more on the village, yet the villagers mistreat him. Nay, that was a mere euphemism at best. Loathing the Kyuubi with every fibre of their being, the crowd of villagers took Uzumaki Naruto as an avatar of the fox demon. But they knew better than to outright show their hatred. What they usually did was much more subtle, like the overpricing of goods to the deliberate selling of expired groceries.

Maybe it was because of the festive mood. Or maybe it was due to the drunken stupor many of his captors were in. It might also be because of the significance of the date. Or a even combination of all three. Whatever the reason might be, the villagers of Konoha finally snapped, years of accumulated hatred finally taking their toll. A crowd marched to the vessel of the demon's home, ripped open the door, and captured him in one decisive stroke. He alone stood no chance.

Which led to the present precarious situation.

_If he was going to die, he would die with his head held high._

Jolts of electricity coursed through his body, frying his nerves. Vats of toxic and corrosive acid trickled down his body. Uncountable sharpened stakes stabbed through his body, deliberately positioned on non-vital areas so as to cause more pain.

The pain was excruciating, but he kept quiet. It was _SOEXTREMELYPAINFUL_, but he kept quiet. It was agonizing, it was tormenting and it was torturous. Even so, he kept quiet.

His entire being screamed for release, but he did not utter a word. He would not, he absolutely refuse to let them know the satisfaction they craved; satisfaction from knowing that they had caused him pain.

He would die with pride.

_Defiant to the very end._

He would die alone.

_The crimson essence of life slowly trickled down..._

On this desolate hill of graves, sentenced to a death for demons. Ironic, for the cross was a symbol of God.

_As black enveloped his vision, he could hear shouts of rage and a shrilling sound, akin to that of a thousand birds chirping in unison.._

Something broke in Uzumaki Naruto that day, irreparably and irrevocably.

* * *

_May 17th, 0418 ARS_

It was a night of darkest black, with the sole source of light being the round creamy disc suspended in the sky, glowing dimly, gracing the land with its bounties. It was a serene night. All was peaceful. Until...

A shadow moved swiftly and stealthily in the dead of night, streaking between alleys of buildings, heading towards a singular direction. His goal? The forest. His intent? To escape. His deed? Stealing a scroll from the library of the village leader.

It sounded so simple, but the scroll was not just a simple scroll. It was filled with dangerous kinjutsus that even the most powerful shinobis the village have produced have barred from usage due to the intricacies and danger of the jutsus. It was the Scroll of Seals.

Furthermore, the village leader was not a simple wizened old man. He was the God of Shinobi, the Professor, master of all forms of combat. He who have mastered a thousand jutsus. He was Hiruzen Sarutobi, the Sandaime Hokage.

Uzumaki Naruto panted heavily in exhaustion, his muscles screaming at him to stop. Even so, he persevered on towards the forest just outside the walls of Konoha. He allowed himself a small smirk, briefly basking in the sense of achievement, before wiping it clean and continuing on. Time was of the essence, and he had none to spare.

Bursting into a forest clearing, Naruto quickly pushed the soles of his feet against the ground, decelerating from his mad flight from the Hokage tower. Wiping the sweat of his brows, he laid the scroll on the floor and rolled it open. Two orbs of azure sapphire blue intensively scanned the ancient and weathered writings on the archaic scroll, committing each jutsu to memory.

"Mizuki-sensei only said to bring him the scroll.. He never said anything against learning them, did he?" Naruto mused to himself, a malicious grin on his face, his eyes darting left and right. "Hmm, I can see why all of these jutsus are forbidden. Some are heavily chakra-intensive, some are suicidal jutsus, and some could cause fatal side effects if applied wrongly."

He laid a finger on the scroll, moving it downwards, feeling the rough texture of the aged paper. As he dug deeper, the parchment gradually became more and more worn, and the ink became more and more faded. It seemed that despite being safely stored in the library of the Hokages, with seals to keep it in pristine conditions, it was no match for the ravages of the sands of time. Time was indeed the ultimate force.

Eventually, he reached a section so old that the ink itself cracked. Peering closer, he barely saw a scrawl, the ink having faded to the extent where it was barely noticeable. Frowning, he noticed that the scrawl was a symbol of ancient writing, a character of the olden days.

The section was from the age of the Shodai Hokage.

That was the only reasonable explanation, for when the Nidaime Hokage came into the position of power, the literacy system had been abolished and slowly revolutionized to its current modern form.

Feeling a spark of excitement at the possibility of discovering an archaic jutsu, he skimmed further, his eyes moving downwards before stopping at a weird symbol, a motif not unlike a flowering quince.

It was circular in shape. A pentagon with thin white lines protruding from a circle, which bore a resemblance to a flower. It was surrounded by five blocks of arcs, resembling the petals of a flower.

As he gently run his finger over the symbol, the inky black symbol suddenly lighted a brilliant shade of blue, the blue that was distinctive of chakra. He felt a weird sensation well up in his gut. It seemed to drown out other sounds, for the rustling of the leaves seemed to became more.. distant. Everything appeared to be spinning. His vision blurred, and the world seemed to dissolve into darkness.

For a moment, it seemed that the only consequence of his action were the eerie sensation and the temporary numbing of his auditory and ocular senses. He was was proven wrong when the sensation reached its apex.

Chakra burst forth from every chakra point from his body. Forcing its way through his chakra circulatory system, the gush of energy showered his body in an aura of intense blue, lighting up the entire forest with the blue of chakra. He had no time to wonder what happened, as an excruciating pain blossomed in his head. Gritting his teeth and clawing his head, he attempted to withstand the agonizing migraine.

The sounds of battle, of war, of metal screeching against each other echoed through his head. Cavalries charging towards each other in an endless battlefield resounded in his ears. His eyes saw numerous shadowed figures in ancient yukatas murmuring to each other - discussing strategies, perhaps?

Information - _or memories_ - of a long past and primeval age imprinted itself in his soul. As his mind could not take the sudden surge of excess information, it forced its host to the realms of unconsciousness. As Uzumaki Naruto fainted, a name that spoke of power, whispered of fear and instilled awe came to the forefront of his mind. A name of an ancient conqueror that knew no defeat.

"_I am the victorious one, the mightiest being that vanquishes his every foe._"

**_Oda Nobunaga_**.

* * *

For Umino Iruka, his day have been less than stellar.

First, he had to withstand the constant whining of the brats in his class. He liked them, sure, but they caused him so much stress. Secondly, he had to administer the practical portion of the Graduation Test, an important test to see whether the Academy Students had the qualifications to become a genin. How did having the ability to perform a basic illusionary clones that nobody really uses in missions qualify you as a ninja, he never knew.

Right, he was rambling. And thirdly, he had the misfortune of testing Uzumaki Naruto. Hey, he had nothing against the kid. Sure, he had briefly disliked the kid in his first year of teaching the class, but quickly grew out of it. It was obvious to the eye that the boy was no demon, no Kyuubi. It was just that... the kid was so _creepy_. To the unobservant observer, his smile always seemed to hold a teasing, mocking-like intent. But if you looked closely enough, you would notice that it held no genuine emotion. It wasn't that the smile was faked... But it was as if he was truly emotionless, as if he was apathetic. His emotions were simply _not there_. His smile could be compared to an attempt of a child trying to understand something it did not.

It was said to be trauma from the incident 6 years ago...

He had heard the tales of the boy before the incident. A hyperactive prankster with a radiant smile that dreamed of becoming Hokage. He would never have believed the tales, if it was not for the amount of people that testified to the claims. After all, the Uzumaki Naruto of now and Uzumaki Naruto of the past was on the opposite ends on the spectrum of emotions.

Of course, he pitied the boy. Nobody, not even the greatest criminal on the continent should undergo what Naruto went through 6 years ago. It still plagued his nightmares sometime, the sight of the gallons of blood caking the floor...

But he was still creepy. No doubt about that. Heck, Naruto surpassed the silent Aburame Shino in pure creepiness!

Right, back to topic. Then, after a nastily exhausting day with dealing with the complaints of "my boy couldn't have failed the test, I demand you allow him to retake it!" and "You must made a mistake, my dear angel couldn't possibly scored so abysmally! Could you please check again?" He had to reply "No, there are no retests for Graduation, and yes, I have checked. And double-checked. And yes, I have triple-checked." in repetition until the parents got the hint. It was the same old thing every year. That was why he dreaded Graduation Day the most out of the entire school year.

He finally met his beloved and sorely missed bed once more when the sun set. He immediately slumbered off before even reaching the bed... until a fast-paced knocking roused him from his rest. The visage of a panicked Mizuki greeted him, as his closest friend and co-worker rushed to explain that the blonde mentioned earlier had took off with the Seal of Scrolls, and that all chuunin and above were required to report to the Hokage for a briefing. His fingers itched to punch the face of his closest friend -_ you woke me up for this? _-, but obligation and duty took priority over luxuries. Grabbing the bare essentials, he headed out.

Which brought him to the present.

He leapt into the forest clearing, his feet making a crunching sound upon hitting dead leaves. Looking around, he was about to deem the place as a no-go before he felt something. A dense pulse of chakra...

He widened his eyes in astonishment. The amount of chakra he sensed could not be possible! It was huge! It was enormous! No, even beyond that. It was astronomical! How could a ninja possess so much chakra? So much that the air itself was supersaturated with the mystical energy?

He turned towards the direction where he sensed the pulse of chakra, to see a bright blue glow. He hesitated for a moment, instinctive fear of the unknown warring with his curiosity. What should he do?

Closing his eyes, he made his decision.

* * *

Mizuki cursed as he knelt on the branch of a tree, a palm on the bark to support him. Having just arrived at the clearing he instructed Naruto to go to, he lamented the fact that his co-worker and "friend" reached before him. Frowning, his mind raced, trying to formulate a plan to get Iruka to give him the scroll peacefully...

His eyes widened when he saw Iruka put his fingers in a handseal, the handseal normally used to release a beacon of chakra, signalling a location. He cursed. He could not let Iruka alert the others. He had worked far too long to plan this treachery for it to go wrong at its apex! Hands grasping the large demon shurikens he was known to favor, he swung.

Iruka, his hands grasped in a ram handseal, was about to release a pulse of chakra when a sixth sense -_ honed through years of ninja training _- screamed at him. Iruka ducked as a large buzz-saw tore through where his head had been a second ago. It would have decapitated him if he was a second later!

Trembling at his close shave with death, he turned around, his eyes darting for the thrower. There, standing precariously on a tree-branch, he saw a face he would never have thought of. His assistant, co-worker and best friend of years, Mizuki, spinning another demon shuriken.

"Mizuki! What the hell are you doing! And why are you armed so lethally for this mission?!" Iruka roared, his eyes widened in shock.

Idly toying with the demon shuriken, Mizuki sneered viciously at his ex-boss. "I thought it was obvious. I am here to finish off the Kyuubi brat.. Then I will acquire unlimited power through the scroll!"

Iruka glanced down to his pouch by his right leg, regretting the fact that he only brought along a small set of blunted kunais and shurikens with him. He had not expected this betrayal. Having no choice, he attempted to stall for time. "So you're the true culprit..."

"Hah! Did you really believe that the Kyuubi brat had the intelligence to come up with such a convoluted plot? He scores quite well in the Academy, I'll admit, but how would he even know the existence of the scroll?" Mizuki mocked, before releasing a bark of laughter. "Tut, tut, Iruka. I had expected better of you."

Iruka cursed himself again. He did not thought that far, mainly because he was half-awake when listening to the briefing from the Hokage, and because he just wanted to get the whole thing over with quickly. His eyes darted to his pouch again at back to Mizuki, his mind racing with calculations for the easiest way to nail him with a kunai. He was then interrupted from his mental focus when Mizuki spoke.

"Hahah. I'll admit, you were a small snag in my plans. I originally intended to just get the scroll and kill the demon, framing the wild animals in the forest, leaving nobody the wiser. But you found this area before I did. Now I suppose I'll just have to silence you too." Mizuki grinned maliciously, his grin speaking volumes of his ill intent. "According to my scenario..."

Mizuki started to spin his demon shuriken again, preparing for a throw. "The demon awoke his true nature and mauled you to death. When I reached, I was too late. I, who was alone, fought valiantly against the demon... And managed to barely put him down like the rabid he is!" His hands drew an arc, launching the circular missile.

"I will be heralded by the villagers as a hero!"

Iruka's eyes widened as he lunged to the side, the large shuriken drawing a huge gash in his side. He grasped his wound, his eyes widened in pain. He gasped out. "You're insane! You've taught Naruto for years, its obvious he's not the fox!"

"Poor Iruka. You don't even notice the wool pulled over your eyes. Don't you know that foxes are masters of deception?" Mizuki sneered in reply. His hands grasping at his back for another demon shuriken. His eyes hardened. "You were always too much of a goody two shoes. I... detest it."

Iruka gasped out in pain as he was launched at a tree. He felt many things. The ache of his sides, wounded from the previous throw... the metallic edges of another demon shuriken embedded in his right shoulder blade... the blunt ache of his back from his impact against the tree...

But none were as oppressive as the feeling of helplessness, watching the person he had believed his best friend stalking slowly to his defenseless student with a kunai in hand, eyes glinting madly with the intention to kill, to murder, to slaughter, to eviscerate. He struggled to move, tried to open his mouth, but only gasps of pain escaped.

Mizuki walked up to the unconscious body of Uzumaki Naruto and gave sharp kick to ribs. Lips curved upwards in a wicked grin, his eyes glinted with a wild look of an animal. Lazily running a finger across the sharp edge of the knife, he debated on where to put the knife. Should he pierce the heart, the core of life? Or the throat? There were also the choices of the spinal column, the lungs, the liver, the jugular veins and subclavien arteries... Argh! Too many choices!

Kneeling down to the prone body, he simply decided to choose a random vital area to pierce. Malicious grin turning more pronounced, he put his palm on the chest of the blonde, steadying the body. The metallic blade glinted in the moonlight. Shooting a final wicked smile to the helpless Iruka, he held the knife high.

"Finally... The Yondaime shall be avenged!"

He stabbed downwards.

The sound of the metal cleaving through air filled his ears. Iruka's eyes widened in despair. Even if the kid was _slightly_ creepy, he was still a child of Konoha! His heart raged, he screamed, he cried. The knife seemed to be going in slow motion... which only heightened his despair. He tried desperately to get up, but the pain overrode anything his soul begged him to do. His eyes screwed shut, heart wrought with insurmountable anguish.

"...W-what..?"

Iruka's eyes opened, unsure of what had caused the traitor such shock, what caused the traitor's voice to tremble. There, with eyes wide and a glacial, impassive, _dull_ emotion on his face, was Uzumaki Naruto, his hand grasped tightly around the wrist of the traitor. The knife's blade just barely touched the blonde's chest.

"Mizuki-sensei... Can I assume that you were intending something hostile with this tool?" Uzumaki Naruto rasped out, his voice void of all emotions.

Stunned, Mizuki could only stare at Naruto in silence, unable to comprehend the situation. He shook his head to snap himself out of the stunned trance, and roared a hateful cry. Breaking free of the hold, he thrusted the knife downwards once again.

Only to have his face meet the brown, hard dirt of the soil.

He struggled to get up, spitting dirt out of his mouth, growling in anger. He turned towards the blonde, enmity glinting in his eyes.

"How did the dirt taste, Mizuki-sensei?" Naruto asked calmly, staring at the fallen form of his ex-teacher slash attempted murderer.

It was unnerving, to have those azure orbs gazing into you with no emotion whatsoever. It was as if _his entire soul was laid bare_. It chilled him to his bones. It was eerie, it was disconcerting... It made him hesitate. Mizuki felt _fear_ for the first time since twelve years ago.

Gritting his teeth, ignoring his gut screaming at him _to get out of the area_, he screamed, "Silence! You will not make out of this alive!"

Naruto's eyes narrowed. "So you wish to meet death. Very well. Please pass along my greetings, would you?"

Frothing with rage, Mizuki leaped at the blonde, sputtering spit. "Don't you dare mock me, demon!" His fingers curled into his palm, sending a fist flying.

Lazily side-stepping the pounce, Naruto threw his hand out and grasped the wrist of Mizuki's outstretched arm, before spinning around, launching him towards a tree.

Groaning in pain, Mizuki glared at Naruto hatefully. His mind racing, trying to find a way out of the situation, when his eye caught sight of the scroll beside Naruto. Panicked as he was, he did not thought out his next action properly. In hindsight, it was the dumbest move Mizuki could have made.

_For he forgot the presence of his foe_.

Lunging at the scroll, Mizuki's speed surprised Iruka for an instant. In their years of training, he had never witnessed Mizuki moving so fast before. Whether Mizuki had been actively hiding his skills, or whether it was adrenaline, he was unsure.

Mizuki could almost feel victory in his grasp. His hand outstretched, a manic grin on his face. "In the end...!"

Before a feet pushed against his back, pressing down on his center of gravity, sending him to the forest floor once more, stopping him in his tracks.

"You lose."

Mizuki angled his head, capturing the face of Naruto in his peripheral vision. Just when he was so close...!

"Even an _Academy Student_ know better to turn his back on his enemy. I guess that makes you lower and inferior to one, Mizuki-sensei." Naruto calmly uttered, as if he was discussing about the weather. As if he was not insulting his enemy.

Mizuki scowled at the blonde, his hand moving slowly towards his equipment pouch by his leg. He was a chuunin! He would not be bested by someone who _failed_ the transition to a genin! His arms swung, launching a kunai towards the passive blonde.

Naruto's arm flashed into motion, capturing the kunai by its hilt, its sharp edge mere millimeters away from his eye.

"That was dangerous, Mizuki-sensei."

Despair. Hopelessness. Two words that summed up Mizuki's state of emotions at that moment of time. Naruto, grasping the kunai in his right hand, held it up high, reminiscent of Mizuki minutes ago.

"Farewell, Mizuki-sensei."

"W-wait!" Iruka cried out. Even if Mizuki was a traitor, he is -_ was _- still his friend. He could not bear to see him murdered. "W-we should hand him over to the T&I. He might have valuable information!"

That outburst distracted Naruto, his eyes leaving Mizuki for a brief moment. That momentary distraction was more than enough for Mizuki to burst free from Naruto's hold. Palms on the ground, Mizuki _pushed_ against the floor with all his might.

Naruto jumped backwards and skidded to a stop as he landed, the soles of his feet pressing against the soil of the forest floor. "Iruka-sensei... While I respect your wishes, and am empathetic to your plight, that man is no longer your best friend. He is a traitor to Konohagakure, and is therefore a criminal."

Iruka stared at Naruto. Physically, Naruto looked the same. But now... He exuded a aura around him. A regal, imposing and commanding aura that made you _obey_. It demanded absolute obedience. It was the aura of a commander, of a general, of a man who had led an army through endless wars to victory. It was the aura of a conqueror. He was an overlord. He was a king. An emperor. A champion. A subjugator. A vanquisher. He was all of these, and yet he was a twelve year old blonde child.

Eyes closed sorrowfully, Iruka gasped out. "V-very well..."

"D-die, demon!" Mizuki roared, his legs pushing against the forest floor for a final jump, a kunai grasped in both hands. He swung the blades simultaneously, creating two arcs that screamed to slice through anything it came into contact with.

Naruto ducked under the slashes, his fingers curled. He stretched out his hands and grabbed his former teacher by the flak jacket, and threw him to the ground. However, he did not stop there. Curling his fingers into fists, he let loose his fists. A blur of motion, that was all an outsider observer could see, as Naruto repeatedly pummeled Mizuki into the ground, each clash of fists against flesh releasing a 'thud'. Grasping Mizuki by his silver hair, he threw him away, the collision of flesh and soil releasing shrapnel of rocks into the air.

Groaning in pain, Mizuki grasped his chest and coughed out blood. His eyes diluted in fear. His hands shivered. It shook. As his head rose, he saw Naruto slowly sauntering towards him, a kunai in his palm. No... It was a demon, the knife a scythe, here to reap his soul. Each step the demon took towards him, while silent, sent pounding reverberations through his soul. Was he... going to die here?

_We don't know what kind of people we **truly** are until the final moments before our_ _death. _

In the face of death, Mizuki's instinct, the urge to _live_ awoke. He raised his arm, facing the demon with his palm, as if it was a shield. He shakedly cried, "St-stop! I-I have information! A S-rank information of Konoha! Yo-you are the jailer of the **Kyuubi**!"

"_And what of it_?"

Those four words. Simply uttered, but it instilled unbridled hopelessness. It heightened his fear, his terror. It grasped him like a vise. Chaining him to the ground. He could not move. It oppressed him. The demon continued moving onwards without hesitation, his path clear. Hyperventilating, he grasped for straws, trying to find a way out of his plight.

"I-I-I can teach you jutsus! I-I-I can help you towards your ambition! You dream.. of becoming Hokage... right?" Mizuki shakedly smiled, trembling. "A-any jutsus. Anything..."

At that, Naruto halted his stride. His head was held low, his visage concealed by the shadows of night. Mizuki's smile grew more confident. Hope - that he had quelled the demon's anger - grew.

Only to be extinguished a second later.

"_My dream? You dare to presume my dream to be something... so small?_"

The demon's gait rekindled once again. Unbridled trepidation enveloped his entire being.

The demon's footsteps stopped. Trembling, Mizuki rose his head. It stopped, for it had already reached its goal.

"Pl-please spare me..." A weak voice whispered, wrought with despair.

"It is better to die with pride, than to live without honor." That sharp voice without emotions, it slaughtered hope and instilled the darkest emotions. "Do not grieve, for your death will be the beginning of the Devil King of the Sixth Heaven's conquest. It will not.. be in vain."

A glint of metal shined in the air.

"And let me educate you on my dream before you meet the shinigami." Naruto whispered, his tone void of emotions.

"_My dream... no, my ambition. It is to conquer the entire continent, and unite it under a single banner. I will form an empire that defies the gods themselves!_"

The metallic shine plunged downwards.

A spurt of blood arced through the air.

A dull scream was heard, before it was drowned by the thud of a heavy object colliding with the floor.

* * *

**A/N: ****And that's a wrap! xD. An Uzumaki Naruto styled after the Sengoku era warlord Oda Nobunaga. I really pity those who decides to obstruct his conquest :D. I'm not too sure how this turned out. Reviews, guys? :D**

**By the way, I really ought to apologize to you guys. I left some of you hanging with "Six Paths, Uzumaki Naruto". I have no excuses, but I apologize anyway.**


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